General Question

Should I get my rook repierced now or wait?

I want to get my rook(not me) re-pierced. I had it done in Costa Rica about a year and a half ago but it gone infected for various reasons (could have been the sketch Costa Rican piercer or could have been my inexperienced cleaning techniques). Nevertheless I had to take it out.

I am leaving for a backpacking trip in the Sierras in almost 2 months exactly. Do you think this is enough time for it to heal and to not have to clean it religiously? Or should I just wait until I get back from the trip in August to get it pierced?

15 Answers

I would wait until you get back. If it becomes infected again it would be a real mess to have to deal with before your trip. Also it is better not to have a timeline when it comes to self care. I’m sure it’d be awesome to have the piercing before your amazing trip but personally I’d wait.

It should be okay after eight weeks. You will still have to clean it out whether you’re camping or not. Can you take along a small squeeze bottle of cleanser and a cotton swab or something and just clean it once a day? (All you need is a small bottle and a ziploc of qtips. That shouldn’t take up much space.) If you’re prone to infections then you might want to wait until you get back home.
In short, it should be ok if you went ahead and did it, but it’s probably safer and wiser to wait.

I don’t have much expertise in piercing, but as far as infections go, I’m rather thoroughly trained (I’m a lifeguard and an eagle scout, in addition to having suffered a rather severely infected wound this past September) and I’m going to strongly advise you to wait until after the trip. I don’t know how bad your previous infection in that location got, but based solely on where the piercing is, I’m betting you know how much of a pain it can be, and you definitely don’t want to deal with that on the trail.

Also, I just realized we’re going to be camping at some hot springs on part of the trip. Submerging a new piercing in water = bad, right? Although I guess if it is a natural, clean hot spring it can’t be all that harmful…

Two months is more than enough time for your cartilage to heal with proper cleaning techniques. Will you have access to a shower while on your trip? After two months, you should just be able to clean the site with soap and water. If you want to get it done now, you have plenty of time as long as you get it done at a CLEAN shop with both STERILE TOOLS and JEWELRY and follow their specific instructions. Usually for piercings this involves anti-bacterial soap with water a few times a day for a couple weeks. An unhealed piercing should not be submerged but you should be all healed by that time. Anything that’s not just skin, ie-cartilage, takes longer to heal but two months is more than enough time for your body to heal.

By the way, I’m no doctor. All of my info comes from experience. I’ve taken care of my fair share of piercings and infections.

@aviona It may be enough time to heal but you don’t know if it will get infected again, keep that in mind, who knows what could happen… Better to do it when you have access to medical care and aren’t rushing your health needs. And what if it doesn’t heal in time. Then you couldn’t enjoy the hot springs.. Ahh.. hot springs…

Well, here’s some more food for thought. ANY piercing can become infected even after it heals. Story time. I had my lip pierced for not quite a year and all of a sudden… BOOM! Infection. Swelling, red, the whole nine yards. It just takes bacteria and or dirty “objects” to get into the wound. I mean, it has to be reopened first but sometimes that can happen just by changing jewelry and you might not even notice it. Bottom line, if your responsible enough to keep it CLEAN, then go for it. If not, you may want to reconsider the whole piercing thing.